


One Way or Another

by RosevalleyNB



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-War, Curses, F/M, Flashbacks, Friendship, Off-screen Character Death, Romance, Slow Build, Torture, Violence, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-27
Updated: 2014-09-27
Packaged: 2018-02-19 01:04:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2368655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RosevalleyNB/pseuds/RosevalleyNB
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <s>A story told in then and now.</s>
</p>
<p>The curse Marcus left in his wake is activated and without him, it will cost Katie the most precious thing in her life.</p>
<p>See story notes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One Way or Another

**Author's Note:**

> ~~I've debated on splitting this story into two books, even pulled it from another site for this purpose. After some reconsideration, I've decided to leave it as I originally had planned and expand/ edit in places where I see fit.~~  
>  Almost each chapter will begin with a flashback to Katie's and Marcus' beginning (then), before we continue with Katie's search (now).
> 
> Expect slow updates, it a b*tch to (re)write.
> 
> **Edit** :  
> As of 12 August 2017, chapters 2 through 20 are deleted, thus completing this fic. For now, I'm going to leave this chapter up as a reminder to myself not to bite off more than I can chew. For this fic, I will not supply the outline or my intended progress as I still reserve the right to approach the story from a different angle to finish it. See my remark above about splitting it into 2 books.   
>  
> 
> Usual disclaimers apply; anything recognisable belong to their rightful owner(s). I’m just playing around in the world JK Rowling has created.

**Then  
September 1st, 1990**

"Mum? Is this it?" a young girl asked as she looked around the very crowded platform at King's Cross train station. She wasn't sure what she'd expected, but this wasn't it. Perhaps, she had hoped it would be a bit more magical like Diagon Alley had been.

"No, but we're almost there. You see that ticket box over there? Were that guard stands?" The woman looked down at her daughter, smiling when she slowly said yes. "You need to walk straight into it, without stopping."

"Can't we just walk around it?"

"No, not if you want to get on Platform 9 ¾." The woman remembered her first time here, nearly twenty-five years ago. She had almost missed the train that day because her parents couldn't believe that walking into something would be the way to get to the Hogwarts Express. 

"It's true, love. Just take a deep breath and walk straight ahead. Your mum and I will follow with the cart,” the girl's father answered for his wife, relieved that he had made it to the station in time.

Encouraged by her parents, the girl took a few hesitant steps towards the ticket box and then stopped to look back at them in worry. They just nodded and signalled for her to go on.

_'They wouldn't joke about something like that, would they?'_ the girl wondered as she focussed on the ticket box again.

After deciding that her parents wouldn't do such a mean thing, she took another few steps forward. Suddenly, a flash of ginger hair passed her, nearly knocking her over with their cart. Scowling and offended that the boy didn't even apologise, she watched him swerve around and brush closely past several other people on the platform. Her scowl morphed into stunned amazement when the boy and his cart ran straight into the metal box her parents told her to walk into and then just…disappeared.

_'It's true!'_

Her heartbeat began beating faster, and her eyes grew large in excitement. She glanced over her shoulder at her parents, smiling broadly this time. Both nodded in encouragement. Behind her parents, she noticed a slew of redheads coming in their direction. Determined to pass through before them, she took a deep breath and prepared herself to run into a seemingly solid object. This was it; her life as a witch at Hogwarts was about to start. After another deep breath, she began running.

Somewhere in the far background, she could hear her parents' alarmed calls, warning her about something or the other. However, in her excitement and the way her heart pounded in her ears made impossible to make out the words.

The metal box came closer and closer, and before she knew it, she ran straight through. Deep down, she'd expected pain, not the tickling veil that stretched over and around her. It drowned out sound and sight and right before she started to panic, it disappeared, and she was free.

The first thing she noticed was the train, the Hogwarts Express, and an excited squeal escaped her. The euphoria didn't last long, though. As her legs hadn't stopped running yet, her body collided with something solid and made her tumble down. Again, there wasn't any pain. Where she should have scraped her knees and hands, she landed on something soft. Not only soft but rather nice smelling as well. It reminded her of freshly mown grass and rain after a hot summer's day.

_'Why was it groaning?'_

"Clumsy bint, get off me!" a voice cried.

_'Oh, shit.'_

Mortified, the girl realised that she'd ran into a person - a boy person- and tried to get up, only to get entangled in her school robes. She should have listened to her mother when she said that she could change into them on the train. Cursing herself for not listening, the girl tried to get up again, only to stand on the hem of her robe and tumble down again. Why was there so much fabric involved?

In her squirming, she didn't notice how she was writhing against the boy she was lying on, which made him feel more uncomfortable with each passing second. Firm hands pushed her away in an attempt to get away. Finally, she dared to look up, straight into grey ones.

_'That's a lovely colour…'_

Ever the curious one, the girl took her time to study her cushion. He was rather comfortable to lie on, she decided, even if he was trying to push her away. He was older, older than she was anyway, with thick black hair and tanned skin. He frowned at her, a look of confusion and discomfort on his face. Something stirred in her belly, a strange feeling, and she could feel herself grow warm. 

Before she could dwell on those strange feelings, someone picked her up by the back of her robes, separating her from the fascinating boy. He was wearing a silver and green tie, and like her, he was wearing his school robes.

She didn't immediately recognise to which house the colours belonged and silently cursed for only reading up on Gryffindor since receiving her letter.

"Katie, are you alright?" her mother asked in worry, looking her over. "Are you hurt? Did he hurt you, darling? Say something."

Meanwhile, her father helped the boy up. To her surprise, the boy was almost as tall as he was. The strange feeling in her belly returned; she had never expected to meet someone close to her age who could look her father directly in the eye.

"I'm all right, Mum. I ran into him," she mumbled. Her cheeks reddened with embarrassment as she pointed at the boy. "He broke my fall."

Her mother turned to the boy, checking him over as she'd done with her daughter. Judging by the reddening of his cheeks and by the poor attempts at keeping away from her mother's patting hands, he didn't appreciate her worries.

"You're Aurelius Flint's son, aren't you?" her father asked in a tone he only used when he wasn't happy.

"Yes, sir," the boy answered as he quickly stepped away from the strange woman's wandering hands. When he was sure that he was at a safe distance, he puffed his chest and smiled broadly. "He's right over there. Do you know him?"

Katie couldn't help but smile back. Even the weird look he gave her when he noticed couldn't make her stop.

"I know him, all right. You better get going. We do not need your lot here."

The smile fell from the boy's face, and his shoulders dropped. He looked as if he wanted to talk back. Eventually, he simply nodded in answer and marched away. Katie watched the interaction in growing confusion. What was going on here?

"Daddy, I didn't get to apologise! I still need to thank him for catching me!" She tried to squirm away from her father's firm hold on her arm. He never held her like this, not even when he was cross with her.

"He'll understand, I'm sure," was his clipped reply. He had his gaze fixed at the boy as if he wanted to make sure that he was as far as possible from them.

Her mother put her hand on her shoulder and offered her a small smile and slightly shook her head, silently telling her not to argue.

Her parents never told her that day why they had dismissed the fascinating boy so rudely.

'We'll tell you when you're older' was all they said that day each time she insisted on an explanation. It wouldn't be until her final year at Hogwarts they'd deem her 'old enough', and by then, they'd be too late.

In the meantime, it didn't stop her from eyeing the dark-haired boy from afar as he stood next to his parents and chatted with his friends. The funny feeling in her belly flared up each time she laid eyes on him and imagined how she'd run into him again on the train and apologise properly.

Suddenly feeling impatient, she decided that she couldn't get fast enough to Hogwarts. With a bit of luck, the Sorting Hat would sort her into his House if she asked it nicely to put her in the same House as the 'Flint boy'.

Yeah, that ought to work. She was sure of it.


End file.
